Health

5 December 2014: A declaration prepared by a group of scientists calls for better integration of biodiversity concerns into climate change politics and negotiations. Scientists and policymakers presented the declaration to Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru's Environment Minister and president of the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the UNFCCC. The declaration asks climate change policymakers to take biodiversity into account while also recognizing the role scientists must play in providing timely information to policymakers.

4 December 2014: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has released an advance version of his synthesis report on the post-2015 development agenda, titled ‘The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet.' In the report, Ban proposes an integrated set of six essential elements: dignity; people; prosperity; planet; justice; and partnership.

27 November 2014: The European Parliament has adopted a resolution defining its collective priorities for the post-2015 development agenda. Priorities include ending poverty and fighting inequalities, a human rights-based approach, and a variety of social, economic, and environmental development issues.

13 November 2014: The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and CARE Denmark have released an issue brief on six issues to address in a changing climate to prevent additional loss and damage and promote the long-term viability of smallholder farmers. The brief emphasizes the importance of advancing food security and nutrition through major agreements expected in 2015 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

21 November 2014: The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves's inaugural pledging event, the Cookstoves Future Summit, raised more than US$400 million for clean cooking technologies over three years. The pledges come from a diverse range of stakeholders, including governments, UN agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and address a range of actions, including affordability and access, awareness and behavior change, monitoring and standards and technology.

Millions of people around the world lack proper access to jobs, markets, schools, hospitals and other essential services, and better transport is a crucial element to improve economic and social development. Yet, transport is responsible for 1.24 million traffic fatalities per year, as well as high levels of urban air pollution and congestion in many cities.

24 November 2014: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has published the first country report in its REmap 2030 series. Focusing on China, the study concludes that the country could expand its renewable energy consumption share of total energy from 13% to 26% by 2030, thus becoming the world's largest renewable energy user.

21 November 2014: Through a joint press release, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) have warned that extreme weather conditions predicted for the Pacific Ocean pose a significant threat for the industry and infrastructure of island States, and encourages establishing a regional mechanism for better preparedness.

7 November 2014: Samoa launched a US$12.3 million project on climate adaptation, the largest national project to be funded under the Least Development Countries Fund (LDCF) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

24 November 2014: A regional workshop in South East Europe (SEE) discussed pooling knowledge and expertise to improve the provision of user-friendly climate services in order to increase resilience against weather and climate extremes. Attendees included meteorologists, hydrologists, disaster, health, water and agricultural managers, as well as representatives of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).